Offending Ashton

How has Roeland van de Geer, the EU’s envoy to the Great Lakes region of central Africa, offended? He – or his job – appears to have incurred the disfavour of Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

When Ashton took up her post, she took an axe to the list of EU Special Representatives but van de Geer’s was one of seven posts to survive. Last month, though, in a discussion paper submitted to member states, Ashton flagged up her intention to do away with the Great Lakes EUSR.

Since van de Geer has won respect as a regional troubleshooter, the diplomats from the member states asked for justification.

Nicholas Westcott, the Africa director at the European External Action Service, then drafted a paper outlining how the EEAS intends to supplant van de Geer, and the matter was scheduled for discussion this Tuesday (17 May).

But Westcott’s paper has got stuck in Ashton’s office, as things often do, so the discussion was postponed. No clue, then, for the moment, as to van de Geer’s offence or Ashton’s reasoning.